Carvalhal tells Owls to maintain their focus

Dom Howson

Boss Carlos Carvalhal is urging his Sheffield Wednesday players to keep up their high standards - or risk being dropped.

The Owls, lying eighth in the Championship, are full of confidence after suffering just one defeat from their last 13 matches.

They will fancy their chances of maintaining their impressive form against mid-table Blackburn Rovers today but Carvalhal has told his troops to maintain their concentration levels.

“The players are under pressure because they don’t know whether or not they will play the next game,” said the Portuguese head coach. “When they play, they are focusing on doing well to try and play the next game. They can’t think too far ahead.

“When you don’t know if you will play the next game, you know you must fight to convince the coach that you should play. If you lose focus, it will disturb our way and I don’t want that. I want everyone focusing on one game at a time.”

Sam Hutchinson sits out the second of his two-match suspension and Barry Bannan will also play no part as Wednesday, who will be backed by over 3,000 fans at Ewood Park, search for their third away win of the season.

“My philosophy of life is not to think too much about what will happen in January, February or even May,” stressed Carvalhal. “I don’t want to talk too much about what we will do in the future as the time we lose focus is the time we lose the game.

“Blackburn is the most important game and we will have a lot of fans. I hope we create a good atmosphere.

“Whether we win, lose or draw, I want our fans to be proud of the way our players fought on the pitch.”